The air we breathe is made up of airborne particulate matter (PM), which can be affected by activity from urban development, transport emissions, agricultural and mining activity.
PM includes all solid and liquid particles in the air, including dust, pollen, water vapour and smoke, or even silica and asbestiform minerals.
On a mining site, PM is usually generated by physical processes such as drilling, blasting, processing, truck movements on haul roads, or from wind erosion of disturbed areas.
Mining companies are responsible for achieving safe air quality as a result of their mining activities. At unsafe levels, PM and dust may affect the health and wellbeing of nearby communities including:
- public health impacts
- environmental nuisance
- disruptive to daily amenity.
The department, along with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) have set out expectations for industry to perform consistent and compliant air quality assessment and management.
For more information refer to Mineral Regulatory Guidelines MG42: Air quality assessment and monitoring (see below) which covers:
- air quality screening and assessment
- setting outcomes and criteria
- control strategies and compliance
- supporting material.
